10 of 10Former Jaguar and Nissan designer Samuel Chufart is responsible for the car’s styling.

Photo by Greg Kable

About the China auto show

Icona, a Shanghai-based design and engineering consultancy, added some supercar intrigue to the Shanghai motor show with the unveiling of its 950-hp gasoline-electric hybrid powered Vulcano concept -- a car quickly billed as China's new Ferrari.

The front-engined GT was created expressly to drum up business for Icona. It is a busy combination of Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, Lexus LFA and Chevy Corvette design cues all rolled into one aggressive-looking package, and yes, it boasts the classic front engine/rear drive layout.

Former Jaguar and Nissan designer Samuel Chuffart is responsible for the car's styling. He says the goal was to create a combination where “beauty and beast come together.”

The car's length and width are 175.2 inches and 76.4 inches respectively, with the wheelbase extending to 106.2 inches. It is clothed in a carbon-fiber body and uses an aluminum chassis.

Icona is proposing two versions, both powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid driveline using a V12 engine (unspecified capacity) with an electric motor and seven-speed gearbox -- a system that sounds similar to Ferrari's HY-KERS arrangement.

This is no real coincidence; the man behind the car's technical aspects is Claudio Lombardi, who previously worked in Ferrari's powertrain division.

An 807 hp rear-wheel drive version is claimed to weigh 3,509 pounds, with a 950 hp four-wheel drive flagship said to tip the scales at 3,597 pounds.

Like much about the Vulcano, the claimed accelerative properties are theoretical at best. Icona claims 0-62 mph in 3.0 seconds, 0-124 mph in 9.2 seconds, a 9.7-second standing quarter-mile time and 217 mph top speed for the rear-wheel drive variant and 2.9 seconds, 8.7 seconds, 9.2 seconds and the same 217 mph top speed for the four-wheel drive example.

Impressive figures for a car that is yet to turn a wheel in anger. Love it or loathe it, there's no denying the Vulcano's attention-grabbing properties. Just don't ask about pedigree …